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Synopsis:
Two die-hard gaming roommates and a Linux user take everyday challenges to the extreme. Ethan, the eccentric gamer with severe illusions of granduer, at the same time being completely out of touch with reality is friendly yet dangerous. Lucas is the brains behind every operation, often keeping a close eye on Ethan and helping him out of trouble, he much prefers the X-Box to any other console, as does Ethan. Scott is the third roommate, not quite a gamer, but an expert with Linux, he is very rarely seen and owns a penguin, a la Linux logo. Lilah is Ethan's girlfriend, Nobody really knows how he is ABLE to get a girlfriend, but Lilah is brainy, beautiful and owns in UT2004.

Back when this comic actually had a storyline with Ethan, Lilah, and the rest of the main cast, I would have given this comic a 4-5 star rating. Since the author/artist switched over to gaming parody strips, it\'s gone down to a 1-2 star rating. I understand why Mr. Buckley felt he had to go that direction since his original story had pretty much ended, but I don\'t do enough gaming to really understand the parodies and if I don\'t get the joke, it isn\'t a very good (in my mind) joke. And if it isn\'t all that good, why read it. Which is why I have pulled this one from my list of favorites and have quit reading it. I have put it on my list of comics to check on occasionally in the hopes that he will go back to Ethan and the rest of the cast, but I\'m not gonna hold my breath waiting for it.

Didn\'t I say you probably weren\'t one? I\'m actually happy you responded with intelligence than just spout \"It\'s so awesome!\" like some of the other people here.

And if he does make cash off this, I honestly do not understand how. I read the comic, in its entirety, up until a few months ago just to check it out.

It made me chuckle here and there, but it didn\'t make me laugh. There were moments I thought were ok at best and others that I thought were just completely retarded.

You have your opinions and I have mine. I don\'t see how something like this can possibly be amusing enough for people to go out and buy merchandise based off of it. It\'s not worth wasting cash on, in my opinion.

There are things out there that have a lot of hatedom, and yet have an obsessively dedicated fanbase. That\'s the fans\' choice.

And like your opinions aren\'t those of a fanboy, mine aren\'t exactly those of a hater. I checked his site out, his comic out, extensively, even saw some of the animated series. The comic wasn\'t very appealing and the series was even less so.

And yes, I stumbled upon it by accident. I didn\'t come here looking for a fight. I even stumbled upon this site itself, with no prior knowledge that it existed. Thanks for pointing that out.

Yes I gave this comic a 5 star rating because that\'s what i think it deserves! Does rating a comic based on my enjoyment of it make me a mindless fanboy? I believe that it does not as I know exactly what i like about this comic. I am also a big fan of Ryan Sohmer\'s but if you want pure proof of attracting a fan base you have to admit that Tim Buckley has a pretty large one. He has an online store full of merch that sells pretty well according to everything I can find and he\'s been running Digital Overload for the past 6 years which based on ticket prices i\'m willing to bet generates a fair bit of income.

Once again i\'d like to stress that I am not a mindless fanboy here there have been points in the comic that pissed me off but after reading through the whole story arc at every point i understood why he was doing it. By the way for someone who supposedly has no interest in this comic you seem to show up at it\'s page here \"by accident\" quite a lot

Okay, so, it\'s been god knows how long since I actually read this thing. I ironically found it again at random, believe it or not. So, I read the post of the guy below me, and I read some things.

And I gotta say, you claim that no one responds because you\'re not all the fanboys and fangirls that I make you out to be?

Well, I find this hilarious since you gave a five-star rating. So, people coming in going \"This is the best comic ever!\" and five starring isn\'t them being just plain fanboys? Well I guess you\'re just the damned expert on them, so you must be right!

Let\'s see, the money thing. Yeah, wanna know who actually makes cash off of comics? Ryan Sohmers. I\'ve mentioned him a few times, I believe. I will admit, I am quite a fan of his stuff, but mostly I just like how well his hobby has become a career for him.

That\'s a money maker. Why? Because he and Blind Ferret Entertainment are the ones Buckley ran to for help to make the CAD animated series and Sohmers found after one season of it that it was going to be a financial bust for them.

So no, CAD isn\'t as much of a money maker as you\'d like to believe. Ryan Sohmers makes money running a store based on his hobby, sells his webcomic to fans optionally or lets them just save his strips online, founded and runs Blind Ferret Entertainment. Daniel Shive creates El Goonish Shive for free, goes to college to increase his skills and technique in what he loves.

What\'s Buckley got? Hell if I know, since I haven\'t even been to his site in forever, but I recall he charged people decent cash regularly just to watch those bland CAD animated videos.

So yeah, next time you wanna try saying he makes a good living, actually think about what you\'re typing.

Ok Notorious D I have no idea when you wrote that last comment but since you wanted a response so bad here it is.... Why in the name of all things holy do you care? Obviously the fact that no one responded means that we read what you had to say and thought it was stupid to the point of not deserving a reply.

Now the only thing i really wanted to respond to was your hating on Tim skipping out on school to work on the webcomic. Although i don\'t agree with doing that if it actually happend, he has managed to make a pretty decent living off the comic so far. if you have a job that\'s going to pay you enough money to live happily and (more importantly) that makes you happy doing it where is the point in going to school instead of that?

oh and another possibility no one replied is because we\'re not really stupid fan boys like you wanna make us out to be

Wow. I\'m not usually one to stalk things, but I took about five seconds out of my day every other day to see if I got a response, and that mediocre response appears. I know this sounds like the mindless banter of a hater to the fanboys and fangirls, but then again, their talk is mindless banter to me. I just looked up above the comment box, comments like \"It\'s teh win\", \"It makes me cream\", even people touting it as the greatest comic of all time or one in which someone claimed Tim was the king of webcomics.

Just a thought: Have any of these people read that many webcomics? I\'ve had my own experiences like this. I would read a comic, think it\'s fucking awesome, and then over time realized I\'ve overhyped it. I scrolled down from the top to see a comment in which a guy explained that he felt everyone giving it a bad ranking were haters, that\'s not true.

One of CorruptGoat\'s explanations was the animated series. I\'ve read many webcomics and I know a few things that go on in the actual industry of them, and I know for a fact that Ryan Sohmer, the founder and head of Blind Ferret Entertainment, the group that helped Tim create the first season of the CAD animated series, pretty much said he was cutting ties with it after the first season. The reason? The animated series was actually less successful than the comic itself, worse than the comic itself, and Sohmer and BFE lost a good amount of actual money in the process of its creation.

Also, I mentioned in my own post that it was a rumor that people were banned for saying the wrong things. I retract my statement. That\'s not true.

It\'s not a rumor, it\'s a fact. Controlling the forums through heavy moderation. There are also supposed facts(rumors? Maybe, I haven\'t cared enough to look at them in depth yet)that he regularly skipped school because his webcomic was so important. I remember mentioning the creator of El Goonish Shive as well. Daniel Shive made a comic based pretty much on whatever his head thought of, not just one revolving around jokes and simple topics, showed MAJOR improvements in his art over the years, did it while still in highschool without sacrificing time for it, and after highschool, started taking courses at a college for these things.

To explain that paragraph for people who might not understand: It\'s a sign that Tim was narcissistic, and still might be. That he felt his comic was so important and awesome, that it actually held more importance than his education. I know this is for webcomic reviews, but I also prefer to criticize the artist as well, not just the comic. I could have a perfectly exquisite gourmet meal prepared by a person that treats me like shit the entire meal, and the meal wouldn\'t justify it. Except with Buckley his creation isn\'t \"gourmet\" or \"exquisite\".

I\'m a guy that does my research about these things. I recently caught up with the comic, read about it and various facts about it in various places, and even read the comments here. I\'m also a gamer, a moderately heavy one. Not an OBSESSED one, but I\'ve had my fair share of experience. Also, to explain this beforehand, I have almost never read Penny Arcade, save a few random strips. All of that out of the way, so some obsessive fan doesn\'t bite my head off for whatever bullshit reason can be thought of, this is my summary so far:

Bland. Anyone that says I\'m a dumbshit merely for saying that is either a fanboy or you be trollin\'.

To elaborate: In the beginning, I liked it. Hell, I loved the first strip. I\'ve read a comic or two that did the same gimmick, first page the characters mention the comic, crack a joke. El Goonish Shive did it pretty well. The strips that followed the very first one for CAD though, not so much. Not the very start of downhill, but he almost had the whole \"This is a webcomic\" character self awareness joke going for the first several strips.

The serious storylines are pretty mediocre. I did somewhat enjoy the one involving Rory and the Hawaiian Mafia, though for whatever reason I enjoy the mere concept OF a Hawaiian Mafia. But the miscarriage one was....yeah. After that storyline it was pretty much almost never mentioned. He tries to integrate serious situations into a comic that would have been better left off sticking with the jokes.

As for the jokes, I found quite a few of them to be moderately funny. One of the things I loved about the comic the most was the Four Players. Aside from that, there were a few good strips I saw that are fresh in my memory even now. But as a whole, the comic isn\'t the funniest I\'ve ever read.

As for the art style, I admit it\'s not amazing. Before even considering criticizing the comic I found myself wondering in the beginning, \"Why is it, even when he is yelling, or surprised, or upset, or with any emotion, Lucas tends to have his eyes half open as if someone buzzed yet not piss drunk?\". It\'s relative copy+paste in quite a few situations regarding facial expressions. But the point on the art style isn\'t just about how it looks. It\'s the attitude. This guy apparently touts himself as a master of art, kills criticism with fire and well repeated ban button taps, yet it barely improves over the years throughout the archives.

To bring some other comic examples into this: El Goonish Shive and Least I Could Do. Both are nonsensical, but the art has gotten better over the years. Daniel Shive, the creator of EGS, even goes to college for degrees in the stuff he needs to know to improve his own hobby\'s art quality. Now, I\'ll admit, looking back into the beginning of the comic, the art was worse than it is now. In fact, the quality of the art at the present is quite a bit better than it was in the beginning. But akin to the humor the art isn\'t the best ever. Even the more recent strips border on decent quality cartoons.

Then we have the characters. Lilah, I understand personality-wise. She seems level headed for an obsessed gamer, compared to the others. Lucas, I can also understand. Standard tech guy with a dash of gamer. I actually like Lucas a lot as a character. But Ethan. The entire comic pretty much runs on his constant and quite apparent retardation and antics. Seems to have run on it since the very beginning, like a less funny version of Robot Chicken. I enjoyed a few things he did, like that whole \"I can concentrate my brain and gain vast wisdom for seven seconds a day\" thing. I even absolutely loved the whole \"Winter-een-mas\" concept. But aside from these very few things, I just didn\'t see anything in him besides the guy that churns random shit out for the comic to run on. And while that\'s a GOOD thing in a comic that would do well running off of jokes, the point is he\'s practically the primary source of it to the point of utter predictability.

Then we have Sara. I actually had to go back into the archives and skim the first several strips to find her name. She appears in a couple of strips, never to be seen again, dumping Ethan over his obsession of video games. I\'m not even sure what her role was in this comic. Humor? Drama? Both? I just didn\'t get it. Granted, while there was that whole floating beer bottle thing going on, Ethan got over it pretty damn quickly. It seemed an utter waste of possibility to introduce a character only to whisk them away, never to be heard from or seen again.

And speaking of that, we have Scott. This was the biggest \"What the hell?\" to me this whole comic, is what purpose he has in it. From what has been shown, the guy has no visible job, yet early on is shown to be magically paying the full rent at the first apartment, and at the newest one has his bedroom lined completely with metal walling, a large metal bulkhead covering his door that sends electricity through people that touch it, incapacitating them, has a private line from which he consumes immense amounts of electricity, his own satellite dish for god knows what, and never even leaves his room. So I did some looking, some checking up on it. Apparently, he wasn\'t supposed to even be in the comic for more than a few strips.

I\'ve never been to the CAD forums, so I wouldn\'t know completely how this goes, but what I found elsewhere basically suggests that Scott wasn\'t supposed to be more than a side character that almost never appears and does appear when he does just to be that one Linux Guy that goes with the \"Microsoft is evil\" cliche. He was originally added in for the same reason as Sara, to appear for a couple of strips and then never again. Apparently the fans were a bit fond of him, something new, I suppose, so Tim let Scott stay at the insistence of quite a few fans, but chose to never integrate him into the stroyline because he didn\'t want him to be an actual main character no matter what, for whatever reason. This is the strangest of claims, but I\'ve even read on a couple of places that asking about Scott or talking about him on the CAD forums is grounds for instant banning. That\'s just plain crazy, if it\'s true.

All in all, this comic is decent if you want to read some stale jokes, and behold Ethan in all of his insanity, but other than that, you\'re better off sticking to something else, and dealing with a less self-important, \"Small Name Big Ego\" artist.

Not everyone is going to like the same thing, and naturally those who tend to find themselves at odds with something that is extremely popular are going to be left saying \"WTF?!\"

CAD has found it\'self in the fortunate position of being one of the most popular and well-known comics on the internet. It\'s only natural that those who dislike the comic would be more vocal about it than nay-sayers of other comics.

Personally, it\'s not my absolute favorite comic, there are others that I feel deserve the spotlight a lot more, that\'s not to say that I don\'t like the comic. I read it religiously. It\'s not always the funniest comic, but it\'s good for a chuckle now and then. Funny really isn\'t my thing anyways. I tend to get bored with gag comics faster than shit. The sappy shmuck in me actaully like the romance plotlines (Hey, Ethan punching out Lilah\'s old Ex was pretty bad-ass)

Definitely the most overrated comic I\'ve seen on the internet. Rarely funny, the art is bland, and too often Tim forsakes a punchline for his cumbersome and boring plot lines. I\'ve always believed that a linear story will always ruin a comic, the only exception to this rule being MSPA.

Don\'t let its rank fool you, this is no quality webcomic. But don\'t let me tell you what to like, go on the site and read the comics. They\'re either childish or plain boring. Coincidentally, those adjectives also describe the readers of CAD. Don\'t believe me? Just read the forums, where some of the dumbest people on the internet spend their time.

Yet another example of something that appears to be blatantly overrated webcomic. In general I find that I just don\'t understand these things. How can something so bland, unfunny and uninteresting be appreciated so much. Definitely on the same level as Questionable Content... though for it\'s credit it\'s definitely better.

I would give it 2 stars because I do get an occasional chuckle, but I find I tend to hit harder against things that are overrated.

After reading several negative posts regarding CTRL-ALT-DEL I would like to point out at least a few glaring problems I have with these \'flamers\' POV\'s.

First, CAD is released with 4 episodes each week....that doesn\'t leave time to do a ton of in-depth backgrounds and lighting and facial expressions etc.

The sites that bash CAD (worst webcomics wiki, AE etc) state their opinions in language that rivals (if it is actually his own language) that of Tim himself when flaming others, calling him \'Tim F^uckly\' (hurhurhur, you idiots). These sites also use personal information, true or untrue, I have no idea because the information is so convoluted and most of the people posting about the pedophilia aspect sound like three-year-olds. Regardless, if we all payed attention to personal lives, no one would purchase Michael Jackson\'s music, watch a movie with Christian Bale in it, or give a flying leap about hundreds of other mainstream persons (David Letterman, David Boreanaz, Tiger Woods etc.).

To speak briefly about the miscarriage episodes. While so many want to just look at the comic and say \'WTF man!! This doesn\'t belong, you have defiled comic-dom.\' I would point out that, if the stories are true that he dealt with his girlfriends miscarriage horribly, maybe he was trying to make amends through Ethan for a horrible thing that he did in the past. Sometimes the medium we work most with is the only way we can convey feelings. The episodes aren\'t meant to be funny, but sometimes, as good authors know, things just have to be written down before they eat us alive inside.

I\'m not saying the comic is always funny, sometimes I run into comics that aren\'t but the majority of them I enjoy very much. I think of comic writers the same way I do comedians, you take your act to the stage and test it on the audience. If they boo you off the stage, it\'s time to rework the material, refine your delivery or whatnot and get back out there and try again. CAD seems to have a fairly large following so either Tim is doing something right, or there are just that many more idiots out there that are easily amused. Personally, I\'m of the opinion that those who criticize the comic constantly and literally have NOTHING good to say about it are trying their damnedest to not say anything good because they are either incompetent parrots repeating what others have already written, or they\'re so hardcore in their criticism of comics that only true graphic novels and comic books earn their respect.

Finally, a note regarding people who call Tim an egotistical e-peen freak banhammering everyone who critiques him on his website: NO SH!T? I own a website....people want to be rude to me and post stories about pedophilia and hate on my comics, so why not allow them to post on my forums and cause disruption and mayhem? When you own a website, you have the right to refuse service to anyone. My family owns a small business and I can guarantee you if someone comes in and badmouths our business, we don\'t allow them back. They can stand on the street corner (e.g. create their own website to bash us) if they like, but they aren\'t allowed back on our property and they sure as hell aren\'t allowed back inside the business itself. You are more idiotic than I could imagine if you think anyone would open up their own website and allow bashing of themselves and their work to go on there. It\'s a horrible business practice unless you have a website that is specifically built for debates (political, religious etc.) in which case that is the purpose of the site you set up. This is not what CAD forums were created for, so just shut up already.

I followed the comic from its origin. I have since lost interest, as the plot fumbles and characters fail to develop emotionally.
The humor feels strained, the drama forced. It\'s not worth following any more.

Ay-Dee, you would decide not to read a comic just because some people who like it are retarded? That\'s just not fair. It\'s not the writers fault? Why not give penny arcade a chance? I\'m not that big a fan of either of these comics, but I have read them both and in my opinion, PA beats this comic by a long shot. I hate saying this about a comic as I have my own, but this comic was awful. I gave it so many chances. I must have read 50 strips, but I can\'t stand this comic. You\'re better off with PA.

Hit and miss. Sometimes you get a witty and insightful comic, and other times a lame punch line. Overall, it\'s readable but I wouldn\'t spend too much time reading through the archives, as it can get kind of boring.

Well, lots of bashing dedicated to this comic I see. As a comic goes, it makes me laugh. I could care less about artwork, story, the maker\'s personal life, or the over use of expressions. It\'s true that I am an easily pleased guy, but I say that the only people who are really qualified to be critics here are comic artists with as much or more experience than Tim Buckley. For example Ben Croshaw, maker of many a webcomic and quite a few games. To other people, I say \"And what do you know about humor?\" That is all.

This comic has poorly assembled copy-paste art. It frequently spreads short jokes over four panels, when they should have only taken one or two to tell. Recently, the comic has attempted serious storylines, but those fail because jokes (not good jokes, mind you, but jokes) are told between the serious story points.

The punchline of the first CAD comic is \"two gamers on a couch comics are unoriginal\". That should have also been the end to the comic.

I actually wanted to try CAD because of the good reputation it has, but after reading all these inane attempts at humor, I actually changed my mind. I would never, EVER, like to be associated with people who are capable of praising such a horrible comic, a simple artistic release that so many people enjoy because they don\'t know better. I\'m pretty sure that kind of behaviour has very tight connections with phsycic instability.

Perhaps this proves that CAD is a comic for the more immature audience, and not the ones who doesn\'t need to resort to childish comments and insults to protect their favorite webcomic. There are other comics out there that I actually like, but you dont see me bitching about it in every forum available.

I actually wanted to try Penny Arcade because of the good reputation it has, but after reading all these horrible comments from fans of it, I actually changed my mind. I would never, EVER, like to be associated with people who are capable of saying such things to a rival comic, or any human being for that matter, over something as little as a webcomic, a simple artistic release that so many people enjoy, regardless of what anyone has to say. I\'m pretty sure that kind of behaviour has very tight connections with phsycic instability.

Perhaps this prooves that CAD is a comic for the more mature audience, and not the ones who has to resort to childish comments and insults to represent their favorite webcomic. I like the comic very well, and there is other comics out there that I don\'t care for, but you dont see me bitching about it in every forum available.

Also, I think it\'s worth mentioning that I wasn\'t talking about Ctrl+Alt+Del being the \"most popular\" comic of them all (though it certainly is among the most popular). I was actually referring to it\'s standing as one of the most popular gaming comics. I do not know where it actually ranks vs Penny Arcade, but I\'d assume they\'re #1 and #2, whichever order they\'re in.

I say this because the comparison was drawn by a previous poster between this comic and xkcd, which is not a gaming comic.

helloearthling said:
\"Thought you might like to know, xkcd is more popular in raw pageview counts, by a massive margin. And it\\\'s never criticised to anything near this level.\"

I don\'t know if either are true, and if they are, if either is true beyond the confines of this website. But even if both of your claims were true, it wouldn\'t change the fact that Ctrl+Alt+Del is more mainstream, thus more widely criticized.

Also, I\'ve read xkcd, and it\'s crap. Some of the jokes are funny, but it\'s stick figures. If the guy can\'t draw, he should have done everyone a favor and hooked up with an artist. Or better yet, written a novel. That\'s not a comic strip, it\'s a child\'s doodling.

Ctrl+Alt+Del is the most popular webcomic, so it\'s no surprise that it\'s also the most reviled. As with anything else in life, the most popular ones will always suffer more slings and arrows than the rest.

The negativity directed at this webcomic is no different than the hostility felt by literary critics toward Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. I have not read the opinions of Mr. Buckley\'s contemporaries, but I would not be surprised if there was just as much venom being spat from other webcomic writers as there are from fans of the less-popular competition, ala every stand-up comedian in the world vs Dane Cook.

If you can ignore what the haters say, Ctrl+Alt+Del is a charming, funny, sometimes-hysterical, sometimes-thoughtful, sometimes-melancholy strip that reminds me of another of my favorite dramadies--Scrubs.

Now, that isn\'t to say Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn\'t fall short occasionally. It, like anything else, has its faults; sometimes it feels like the stories are forced rather than inspired, especially the more dramatic ones. There are other times where the plot seems to be an ill-conceived mash of two (or more) separate plots that never quite made it to print. An example of the latter is the story of Lucas and the stock girl he meets at the electronics store who eventually kidnaps him and attempts to kill him for an inheritance she mistakenly believes he has. Aside from the ridiculously-elaborate plan hatched by this Best Buy stockroom associate, including accomplices and henchmen, it doesn\'t make sense that the girl--who has successfully killed several other men for their money--is working at the comic equivilant of Best Buy when she just-so-happens to bump into Lucas.

But even in that flawed storyline, the comics manage to be funny, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Isn\'t that all that matters?

It\'s a great comic, really. The haters hate because they think their comic should be more popular becuase it\'s more \"pure\", whatever that means. The truth is that Ctrl+Alt+Del delivers, and that is why it\'s on top. Thank you, Tim Buckley, for creating a wonderful comic strip.

Not too great. I mean, he really tries to push jokes out of his ridiculous main character, to whom he has attached a dream girl. I can\'t help but feel Ethan is idealised author self-insertion.
It doesn\'t make me laugh, it\'s just not subtle enough.

One strip did fill me with hope, mind:
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online .com/comic.php?d=20040327

Is their no middle ground here?
Let me just say that i love this webcomic.
I found it a week ago and i desided to read the
whole thing from begining to end.

It isn\'t as bad as some of the flamers are makeing it out to sound. It\'s not the most funny thing i have ever sceen but it is quite enjoyable, being a gamer for the majority of my life.

I don\'t think attacking the creaters personal life is appropriate. Also he dosn\'t need to take criticism from you, it\'s his webcomic. When you make a webcomic that is higher on the list than his is THEN you can critisize his work but last time i checked you don\'t even have a webcomic do you. I didn\'t think so.

Bottom line. If you don\'t like it don\'t read it and stop ruining the internet with your worthless mouth diaharea.

CAD is an abomination. When it first started it wasn\'t too bad and had a few good comics. However that was before it started to develop a plot if that were even a viable description. Tim buckley simply cannot write a good story and he certainly cannot draw (Which is kind of important in a comic yet seems to be severely forgotten.)Lilah\'s miscarriage has not been mentioned once after the initial stigma passed. I don\'t know about you but I figure that a miscarriage is a pretty traumatic and unforgettable event in someone\'s life.
The \'jokes\' are badly written and Tim often feels the need to explain his jokes to the point where he is basically insulting your intelligence.
The less said about his reinforcement of the negative stereotype that all gamers are violent, the better.

Quite frankly Tim\'s declining ability to write and the copy+pasted nature of how he \'creates\' each comic coupled with Tim\'s use of the same B^U expression and lack of emotion show that Tim has gotten lazy and just carries on the comic to make more money. This is evident in his \'CAD sillies\' which cut the middleman and use what are practically stick figures to tell really awful jokes.

It doesn\'t help that Buckley is a complete jerk. He ignores any and all criticism that comes his way to the point where he feels the need to act like a spoiled brat and ban anyone from his forums who speak negatively of him. That and he\'s an incredibly narcisistic paedophile whom you all seem to ignore when supporting him.

For the love of whatever invisible deity you worship, expand your webcomic experience to something that doesn\'t insult your intelligence with blatantly unfunny, obvious jokes and stop reassuring Buckley that he doesn\'t need to improve, because he quite clearly does.

At least half of these retards giving this strip 5 stars is Fuckley himself. Just like when he vandalized his own wikipedia page then posted as fans bitching about the vandalizer. I found this funnier than any of his comics. I love you, Wikiscanner, for being able to show the IPs of editors.

More of B^Uckley\'s escapades can be found here.
http://forums.kingdomofloath ing.com:8080/vb/archive/index.php/t -141141.html

Poor artwork, piss poor , amatuerish, unfunny and surprisinlgy pretentious writing, as well as annoying characters ensure that Control alt delete is easily one of the worst gaming webcomics out there (and thats really saying something).

I admit it. CAD was the first webcomic I read. And for a while it was not that bad. But somewhere between shoving the Linux guy in a deep dark hole because Tim does not know how to write a smart-nerd character, and the miscarriage storyline, the comic went to shit. Not the worst webcomic evar but certainly the most overrated.

1. The art is horrible, and while this wouldn\'t be a problem for a webcomic, his creator thinks he\'s Van Gogh reincarnate.

2. It\'s not about videogames anymore.

3. The story is retarded (By the way, reading a webcomic for the \"plot\" is like watching Begotten for the dialogue). The miscarriage arc was interrupted by A D&D JOKE.

4. Buckley thinks he has to explain every goddamn joke to you, and when he\'s not explaining the joke, it\'s because THERE IS NO JOKE. The comic is also riddled with self-reference, like a script from Friends. Sitcom humor is the lowest form of humor.

One word which describes this Webcomic\'s terribly written characters and plots is \'obnoxious\'. The \'plot\', or whatever tissue-paper thin piece of nonsense passes for it in Mr. Buckley\'s eyes, is effectively an over-glorification of the life of a born loser. Poorly written characters and an almost total lack of realism despite contrasts to real-world situations(such as the infamous miscarriage \'arc\'...) add to this gamut of literary travesties, often making it nigh-unreadable.

Tbh, I read CAD more for the plot and anything else. I think Tim has the ability to make a truly great comic, one about the lives of gamers, not the crazy antics of an ADHD sufferer. However, it seems that a die-hard core group of ultra-fans want him to keep going with the gag-a-day, the kind of fans who every time the words "Chef" or "Brian" appear on screen, they shout "LOLZOMFGTHATISTEHFUNNIEZTTHINGEVA ". If Tim learns that he needn't give a shit about those idiots, who protest at the merest inclination of a comic without gags, then he could make it into something awesome.
At the moment though..meh.

Gee wiz! More attacks on Mr. Buckley's alleged sexuality. How original, and totally out of place. Aint no problem with people expressing why they don't like a comic, but the creator's supposed personal life should have nothing to do with it.
Besides that, this comic is still great. CAD fans rejoice. Haters commence to hating.

There was a time when I found CAD to be funny. It went from usually having humorous comics about video games, to focusing more on the dramatic nonsense involving one dimensional characters. Honestly, the characters rarely move / show new expressions during the duration of the 4 panels.

The web comic was pretty funny when they mainly focused on video games, which is... what I thought the web comic was supposed to be about? It just seems like Tim Buckley has become a joke anymore, a miscarriage? really???

For those people that think this is the most hilaaaarious web comic out there, or think the art work is sweet (hmmm, hasn't changed from being mundane in 4 years? that's weird...), trust me theres way more entertaining comics out there.

Well, I just have to say that Ctrl+Alt+Delete is the best webcomic there is. It's funny, interesting, humorous, and I don't even like playing video games so much. I like the storyline, the characters, the drawing style...everything about it. I only wish the best to Tim
And, to KaosKnight, if you don't like the comic, then don't start slandering it. This way you're showing other people your immatureness and stupidity. And have fun molesting children - you always see yourself in other people.

This comic is a transparent rip-off of other comics, is drawn in a painfully repetitive style (characters all seem to have the same facial expressions), and last, but certainly not least, the author is a miserable excuse for a human being. Consider that he is a pedophile, that he has narcissistic personality disorder (according to the DSM-IV), that he betrays his followers, and that he is incapable of taking criticism of any kind.

People who know of Tim's ridiculous immaturity and pedophilia and still truly enjoy his work are, bluntly put, blind.

As an addition to my previous point- I'm shocked that people say it's going downhill. If fleshing out characters and going with an actual plot is a bad thing, then I really hate to think what you people say is a good thing...

Personally, the comic is much better with the addition of a stronger plot line.

The comic is good, but in no way does it deserve the position it's in. Comics in the top 5 should be true masters of the webcomic media, and frankly, CAD isn't. Is it in the top 20? Certainly. Maybe even top 10 if I stretch it. But not the top 5.

I started reading this comic a few years back, when it was still pretty humorous and not quite as story-heavy. Slowly and slowly, it's done nothing but become more and more mediocre, and I think it's because the comic is now relying heavily on the story of Ethan and Lilah (and occasionally Lucas and whatever girl he's sleeping with at the time).

What this comic started out as, and what I expect from it, is primarily a humorous gaming comic with some story elements; what it is now is primarily a romance-comedy with occasional video game elements. A chick flick with video game cameos, if you will. Perhaps that's what you're looking for in a web comic, but not me.

Worst yet, the story line is extremely predictable and, though it tries to be funny, the jokes fall flat more often than not. I find myself feeling embarrassed for the writer as you would for a friend who's just laughed at his own unfunny joke.

But I read the comic--probably because it updates frequently and on time and, while it isn't very good, it's not exactly offensive. That, and it takes all of two minutes to read. But if my webcomics list starts getting too long, you can be sure this one's the next to go.

Last year God answered a little boy's prayer.
He crept in on tip toes late in the middle of the night and wiped away the poor child's affliction.
But on that particular night God had been drinking and neglected his latex gloves.
It wasn't until many months later, gaunt and starting to thin, that he thought to get tested.

He knew the answer before it was spoken.
POSITIVE.

God wept, not for his own fate, but for how the news would be received. Being gay didn't make it any easier on him. He lamented the fulfillment of a stereotype and feared the truth wouldn't be believed. How would it sound to admit "I got it from a little boy on a hot, sticky African night?"

So God kept his secret quiet and prayed to us for a miracle.
But all of God's prayers, spoken through the trees and the wind, and the sun and the rain, and the moon and the mountains, went unnoticed. The digital people didn't think to listen for an old, dying, gay God.

This comic is very funny at times. Ethan's hijinks are very funny! Many of the comics about specific games are a riot.

However, main characters that live in the same house disapear for months (Scott and Penguin). Try living in a house with a few roomates and not bumping in to one of your roommates (who is in his room all the time) in a month or two.

Also, the player 1,2,3,4 comics go way to far. Some are using this as an example of how gamers want to act.

As I have stated above, I find this comic pretty funny most of the time, but it has a few flaws. I do read it often.

As above, so below. The human being finds himself, or herself, in the middle. There is as much space outside the human, proportionately, as inside. Stars, moons, and planet remind us of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Is there a bigger being walking with all the stars within? Does our thinking affect what goes on outside us, and what goes on inside us? I think it does. Where does creamed corn figure into the workings of the universe? What really is creamed corn? Is it a symbol for something else?

CAD is not unique, and it has no unique elements. 'Random' humor, gaming references, two guys and a couch, the girl character, the talking robot who's a ripoff of other robot characters in media, the cheap sitcom atmosphere where they only have one set and they shoot the rest out in the park. It's pretty sad when you think that there are actually people who laughed at the arrow joke.

The reason people bash CAD is not that they're masochistic cynics who love to hate CAD out of spiteful vindictiveness. It's that CAD is a mediocre webcomic that doesn't deserve the attention it gets, not when there are so many better alternatives out there.

The authors need criticism because without it they get the impression that their work is all sunshine and roses, and they keep pumping out the same old crap year after year. Has anything in CAD changed in the last 4 years? The characters still have their identical languid expressions, Ethan is still wacky, Lucas still makes bad punchlines, it's only grown staler as it went on, and people still watch this crap. So do I. Why? Because I have a few minutes to kill each morning and I'm bored. But this does not mean that CAD is a good creation.

So I criticize it, because considering the attention it gets, it's nowhere up to snuff. Fine, enjoy it. No one's stopping you. What I'm wondering is, why are you posting your glowing reviews with impunity, and saying that people who hold any other opinions from yours should withhold theirs?

I LOVE CAD, I find it to be very funny. I dont see why other people always have to bash it, if you don't like it, DONT READ IT!!!! Ta-Da MAGIC problem solved!! DER, also, CAD has a grasp on the real world, and no I'm am not saying that all the others don't, because I'm sure they do, it's that CAD has to do with reality alot more than others do. And for those who are being pricks and do nothing but make fun of the authors, try and understand what they go through to get these comics up daily, or near daily. It's alot of stress and work. A lot of you people who just bash and hate the artists/authors have no apprecieation to work. The people who make comics are NOT in debt to you in anyway, they owe you NOTHING. Also, try and LIKING comics, don't be a critic, just try to enjoy them. CAD is great when it you look at what makes it unique, and theres A LOT of things that make it unique

Who cares whether or not Ctrl+Alt+Del is a ripoff of PA? It's a weak, poorly written, poorly devised homogenized artwork comic that's been throwing out the same humorless soap opera trash with a few very rare moments of excellence, mostly in the cartoons that have nothing to do with the main characters. If you like poorly constructed sitcoms and decent looking cartoons with really terrible concepts, humor and writing, this is for you. It doesn't even come down to commercialism: this comic is just plain bad.

Penny Arcade just ripped your comic entitled "The Game Face". Executed slightly different, never the less, totally ripped. Funny to see things like that going on amongst the pillars of the webcomic community.

Mister Buckley, are you even trying? I used to be indifferent towards your comic and didn't let it bother me, but recently I became aware of just how subpar your shit is. This whole rivalry you and whoever the fuck does penny arcade have is fucking laughable because there's no real competition there.
The fact of the matter is "Gabe" has improved tremendously over time and clearly knows what he's doing, and you do not. Heaven forbid you switch up the perspective occasionally instead of keeping a view from three feet above the characters' heads to the tops of their knees EVERY GOD DAMN TIME. Tell me, do your characters actually have feet? I don't recall ever seeing them.
And tell me, how many millions of dollars have YOU donated to diseased and injured children this year?
Tim Buckley, you are a fucking joke. The fact that people even consider you in league enough with PA to have some form of e-rivalry with them is the greatest punchline of all.

Its always the same people trying to knock Ctrl+alt+del off the top, the comic does retell certain jokes, but it retells them from another angle, another perspective for example and its funny again.

In short I think this is the best comic on the web, ive read much of other comics but this is still my favorite it mixes humour with plots. Is this comic for you? read a few pages and decide for yourself!

Typical CAD haters. Finding joy in uncivilized manners like beastiality. No wonder they don't take the time to enjoy this comic. They're too busy trying to chase the pussy...Or the puppy. Or the chimpanzee. It's really sad, but I'm not one to judge. Doggy style your doggy. We'll stick with the comics. Thanks.

Great comics, one of the few with an ongoing plot. Can sometimes be disturbing (this Ethan guy is really messed up!)
I only sorry the Linux dude was gone. He had so much potential... and the penguine was just too cute :)

Ok Ok Ok. What is the go with some of you people. there is such thing as a Good and Bad Positive post, and a good and bad negative post.
Why is it that so many of you who dont like a comic (im not saying all) rip into so badly? isnt just saying 'i dont like it' good enough?
And then theres those of you who post with an energetic hyper-active fanboy style 'ZOMG I LOVE THIS COMIC JUST COZ' style attitude. 'its a good comic because >insert reasons here<' is more acceptable

SO! CAD, i have read through all of the archives. I've been reading this for about 4 years now, and i started off loving it. Good storylines, that had depth and there were good places it could go. the artwork evolved and it was obvious the comic was thriving.
But in the last year or so it has -- how to say, lost a certain 'zing'. it still has its moments of homour and wit, but the storylines seem to have lost a bit of direction to me. The artwork is remaining a constant level now, so it doesnt look like it will change much from where it is now.
Overall its a good comic, that is obviously very popular, be it good or bad. i still read the comic, although not so much as i may have before. who knows, change could be in the air...

this comic is awesome. It's a toss up between penny arcade and CtrlAltDel for which is the best comic on the web. They both update on the same days and they seem to go back and forth for who is funnier, somedays it's a tie because they are both too hilarious or both suck. The thing is being as they are both mainstream they are held to a higher standard than most comics therefore it becomes more obvious when they are in a lull. They are the best because they put more work into their comic than anyone else and it shows. You may not like it but you have to respect their work and dedication.

Oh and Equille?.....Seriously? That comic is the worst comic of all time. 25% of the site doesn't work and there is only like 10 anyway which out of all of those, 100% sucked miserably.

I'm not really sure what to say about this now, considering the comments below. But everyone has their own tastes. I'll admit that I did like it a lot, mainly for the gags revolving around actual games. I tend to dislike game comics that don't actually involve the games, just the gamers; It ends up being rather soap opera-ish.

The art style of CAD changed for the worse in my opinion, but it's still visually pleasing. The story seems to have slowed a bit, I'm not sure if it's just me noticing that.

I have been reading ctrl+alt+delete for about... three years. A friend introduced me to it and I worked my way through the archives in about a week, enjoying myself all the way. In those days, I really liked CAD; it was near the top of my list (right behind Penny Arcade and VG Cats).
But of late, it seems CAD has been afflicted with a certain... malaise. I no longer find the same amusement. Chef Brian used to at least warrant a chuckle. This latest Chef Brian is simply trite. Ethan seems to be stuck in a cycle of stupidity; more and more, I am less entertained by his antics (i.e., trying to jerk off wearing power gloves). Maybe it's the continuity of the comic strip. I cut my teeth on VG Cats and Penny Arcade, two comics where continuity is not prevalent; in the case of Penny Arcade, continuity is anathema. I don't know, CAD just doesn't hold the same appeal it used to. Maybe it's just repetition of the same gimmicks. Maybe it's that (from what I can gather) Tim Buckley is, as a person, lacking in character. I know that an artist's personal life should not play a part in judgment of a comic, but when I read the comic, I cannot help but think about all the unpleasant acts that Buckley has (supposedly) committed.
Reasons aside, CAD just does not hold the same appeal it once held. Therefore, I give this a three not only in order to remain moderate, but also for nostalgia's sake and the hope that I can recapture my past enjoyment.
Watermelon, I salute you.

CAD is just boring, its about 7 years of the same stuff...over and over and over...any half brain monkey can write stuff better than this. comics like VGCats, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Sinfest,COMMISSIONED, White Ninja and Dueling Analogs are WAAY better. the jokes in this comic ...arent even jokes....its just the boring life of some nerd and his robot...and others.....just not a top 5 comic...and i dont know why its still up there.....damn.

I too would like to extend my congratulations to Order of The Stick for its ascension to the #1 spot. Being a fan myself, this is gratifying. However, for those of you that feel like this is some kind of personal victory from down voting CAD. Yall needa grow up. Seriously. Don't yall even think about coming on and talkin about how yall booted CAD down by down voting it because doing that would mean that you are taking credit for OOTS's climb to the top. That would be a great injustice to the work of Mr. Burlew. Hate CAD all you want. It will not waiver fans any. I know I still love it. CAD is a great comic. OOTS is a great comic. Both of them are at the top because they are great works of art. So CAD haters, before you say anything think about it first, and give credit where credit is due.

"We're trying to get this comic off the number one rank. That is why we bash on this comic and people who rate it five stars. This comic just isn't worth it. Read explosm or Order of the Stick instead."

Mature, very mature. And Tastey, it seems you got your OOTS pile of flaming shit botted up to #1. Good for you...

In my opinion, I find CAD humor always there and the quality of the art good. It is always consistent with updates, which I think matters a lot. It uses plot arcs, and sometimes it uses random flavor of the week style, also good.

This Comic has consistently made me laugh since I started reading it. People constantly make claims that the art isn't as good as such a comic (which is irrelevant really as art is a matter of opinion) and that its not as popular as other comics.
Yet it consistently tops these charts? I fear its mostly elitist people who think that it cant be funny anymore because its been around so long

I'd like to say, this comic deserves a one rating, because it SHOULDN'T BE NUMBER ONE IN THE LIST OF COMICS. Hey, sometimes it is funny. Sometimes it can give a good joke. But their are WAY too many comics that are FAR better than this, this comic isn't all that bad, but it isn't even near the list of top 10.

Guys, just because Tim Buckley is supposedly a gigantic prick, that doesn't necessarily impact on his actual comic, does it? There's absolutely no sense in rating this comic a meager 1 star because of the attitude of the artist himself.
Also, who are we to disagree with how Tim does his comic? There are thousands of people out there who enjoy his comic as it is, and it just doesn't make any sense when an anti-fan joins the CAD forums in order to bad-mouth the comic itself. The forum is for fans only, not those who would seek to just openly criticize Tim's artwork. Besides, what right have you to complain about your FREE entertainment? I could understand your concerns about the comic if it costs people to view it because naturally, you don't want to waste your money, but it doesn't cost anything to read the actual comic itself. Just be glad it's free to view because quite frankly, Tim Buckley is doing this on his own terms. As for the occasions when he has apparently lashed out at people in a rude manner, who's to say he wasn't either drunk or extremely stressed out from all the work or people telling him how to do his own webcomic?

This is free entertainment, folks. Stop moaning and just appreciate that fact. I can understand if you don't like the comic because it doesn't fit in with your actual tastes but don't go bagging the actual comic itself just because of what the artist himself actually does outside of the comic strips.
Tim Buckley and CAD are two completely separate things. Even if he was a severe prick to deal with, I'd still read his comic because I enjoy it. And quite frankly, he deserves his big ego if he does indeed have one.

And on a final note, I also find it completely silly that you would vote low on this comic with the pure intentions of just removing it from the top spot. It's in the top spot for a reason, so don't try to change it. You might not like it, but thousands do. Go read something else and don't negatively comment unless it's for a decent, logical and proper reason.

This comic is what I call crap. It isn't funny, from beginning to end, it isn't entertaining, it isn't... anything. Just plain crap. And after reading some comics, I've found out that the writer of this comic is just like his comics. CRAP.

"For the love of whatever God u people worship! why does everyone have to hate on everybody elses opinion?! If some1 thinks that this comic deserves 5stars, let 'em rate it in peace! I'm sick of every1 trying to prove that people are stupid just by how they type and what comics they read! I personally read both CAD and PA and I think they're both hillarious at times. other times I ask myself "why the hell do I read this crap?" Then i remember... it's the same reason every person reads any comic, EVER! We Either have nothing better to do than waste our time reading comics, OR... we truely like the story or the artwork or the characters some1 created and we honestly are interested in what happens next! So to all you fools out in cyber-space sipping your Haterade... CHILL THE HELL OUT OR STOP READING THE F^&!ING COMIC!!!"

We're trying to get this comic off the number one rank. That is why we bash on this comic and people who rate it five stars. This comic just isn't worth it. Read explosm or Order of the Stick instead.

CAD is the Garfield of the webcomic world. CAD is boring and full of trite jokes without any substance. In the years where Tim Buckely has drawn CAD, the art has not matured at all; it remains banal and crude, as if it was drawn by a person who doesn't really enjoy to draw. Of course the art doesn't matter at all, when speaking of webcomics such as xkcd, but the script is equally hackneyed. You can guess what the punchline will be within the first two panels. The dialogue is devoid of any humor or cleverness. CAD is little more that fanservice for PC gaming pre-teens.

i keep reading more and more people trash talking this comic.. well fine.. if you think that's funny..

Now i don't care about all those weird story's people seams to be talking about like the "RoMicide" or anything else.. if you really want to trash talk this comic like that.. then start your own little club or something.. there are still people that thinks this comic is good..

This comics is great, it's balance humor about video games are still good but could be better.. the art work is great..

Tim deleted RoM and never brought it back. He covers his tracks pretty well. You can find a good deal of it on the PvP forums. A chunk of the people he's screwed over regularily chat over there. Google does the job too.

I totally forgot this:
after reading the comic, the art is terrible, the writing is extremely dirivative, the characters are complete idiots and pawns used only as a way for the biggest prick in webcomics to get his "higher than thou" opinion accross.

And yeah like I said, the jerk that spews that pile of filth is an advantageous, egotistical pedophile.

Nice essay, Captain. Next time try writing it in L33T. Or, you can try just saying "CAD sucks" and get it over with. I can understand your frustration with the man's behavior, but, ultimately, nobody cares. Nobody cares about the man's personal life. They read the comic because it's good. And, it still is good. Also, I can go on about how people who are stupid enough to give money to a perfect stranger deserve what they have coming to them. That's besides the point though. People. Read the comic and judge it not for the person writing it, but for its content. Thank you. Good night.

What's so funny about Ctrl Alt Del? First I'll give you a run down just so you can all learn why the webcomics world hates the man.

I'll start with "RoMicide". Tim(the writer and "artist" of CAD) befriended a 16 or 17 year old girl online and tried to form a relationship with her anyway. Several people pointed out that she was underage, but Buckley sent naked pictures of himself to her. He propostitioned a minor, but was never caught by the law for it. Some members of the Rantings of Madmen section at the CAD forum began discussing the incident, and some called BS on Tim for his behavior. The thread was deleted; anyone who posted in the thread, or even read the thread, was perma-banned from the forums. The RoM forum was shut down after that in a massive purge of nearly 1/3 of the forum members. It's known today as Romicide. Don't believe me?

http://www.urbandictionary.c om/define.p hp?term=romicide

Next up is the WoW guild. Tim(again the "artist"... and I use the term loosely) formed a guild on World of Warcraft, but eventually left the guild, and left it in the hands of the other leaders. A month after he quit, he logs on, and proceeds to go on an obscenity laced rant and banned everyone in the guild, killing the organization in a half-hour, and leaving those members up shit's creek. (The PvP guild took a lot of them in after that.) Now it's a bannable offense to even discuss WoW or that incident in the CAD forums.

Now we get to the OTHER gaming incident, the Battlefield one. Tim asked for money from his forum members to get a CAD server for BF2. He suddenly up and quits that game, (rumor is he sucked and got sick of it) and just takes the money before it was used to pay for another month/whatever time period. He shut down that server; nobody could play on it. He never returned the money, he just screwed over his readers.

Now we come to Kris Straub. Tim ranted about Webcomics Appreciation Day (nowhere near the date of the event) and said it was just a bunch of bull. Kris Straub, who does Checkerboard Nightmare and Starslip Crisis(two comics that actually don't suck, mind you), wrote Tim an e-mail that explained that while Tim may not have liked the idea, a lot of artists saw it as just that little bit of recognition for their efforts. (I've seen the letter, it was very nice and polite.) Tim responded by telling Straub to "go back to blowing Kurtz", and that "I get more e-mail in one day than you get in a year." The way the response was written, it seemed to imply that Tim thought success was measured by e-mail, and he showed such utter disrespect and contempt for Straub - the rudeness level was easily a ten; it's known within the webcomics world that Tim just doesn't give the slightest shit about other comics - that's fine, but he openly bashes and disrespects pretty much any other comicker that approaches him, spouting off on how much more successful he is and whatnot. He's just plain mean. Need proof?

http://www.blanklabelcomi cs.com/community/viewtopic.ph p?t=2524

Here's his response:

"Fine, than go be bitter elsewhere that someone ten years younger than you is doing it bigger and better than you ever did, or ever will.

I don't know why you felt the need to come to my forums to try and cause shit. I didn't think people like you and that Straub punk could survive without your lips surgically grafted to Kurtz's cock.

In a single hour I get more email than you get in a week, so if you want to bitch and moan about me somewhere else, by all means, knock yourself out. But the instant you think you're going to come to my forums and tell me I'm lying, you'd better believe I'm going to ban your sorry ass.

He also does not respect his forum members. As long as they're kissing his ass, he's fine with it, but when someone offers some constructive critisism, that individual will have the thread locked, and will likely be banned for trolling. Tim literally CANNOT take critisism of any kind; he sees his success as the only justification for putting out a formulaic, chronic-cut-paste comic that just keeps recycling the same jokes over and over again. (Just read it for awhile, folks, it used to be good, but now it's the internet's Garfield - successful but not entertaining.) Tim has shown open, nasty contempt for anyone that so much as suggests he do, well, anything, really.

Tim really doesn't have much of anything to do with Connecticon anymore. It's his group of friends that run it, and he couldn't really even be bothered to show up. He stopped by during the last one for a few minutes, and left.

People don't like Tim Buckely because he's a moody, disrespectful jerk who treats other people as if they were beneath him. He took money from his forum-goers and denied them the service they were paying for. He's exposed himself to and propositioned a minor.

And on top of all that the comic has gone down hill faster than an avalanche.

Now, then, why is CAD funny? It's not. It's run by a total nazi who ran out of jokes two years ago and continues to abuse his readers to this day

I hope this was educational. Do yourself a favor and read a good webcomic.

I used to like this comic. Nay, I used to love it. Actually, it used to be my favorite. And I have to ask, what the heck happened? I loved it when it was a random comic with little or no continuity. Now, he has established a fully developed story involving romance. If I wanted to read this, I'd read a book or watch TV. And I hate to say that the character of Ethan has become flat-out annoying. He used to be hilarious, but by some act, the author has killed the character. The thing this comic reminds me of most now is a terrible TV show. Like, the kind that gets canceled in a month. However, seeing as how this comic is still #1 on the list, it obviously won't follow that trend. For shame.

For the love of whatever God u people worship! why does everyone have to hate on everybody elses opinion?! If some1 thinks that this comic deserves 5stars, let 'em rate it in peace! I'm sick of every1 trying to prove that people are stupid just by how they type and what comics they read! I personally read both CAD and PA and I think they're both hillarious at times. other times I ask myself "why the hell do I read this crap?" Then i remember... it's the same reason every person reads any comic, EVER! We Either have nothing better to do than waste our time reading comics, OR... we truely like the story or the artwork or the characters some1 created and we honestly are interested in what happens next! So to all you fools out in cyber-space sipping your Haterade... CHILL THE HELL OUT OR STOP READING THE F^&!ING COMIC!!!

I liked Ctrl+Alt+Delete a lot more when I was new to the internet(and webcomics). But since that time I've been exposed to a lot more, and I think since then my tastes have just become more exclusive. Or maybe it just seems better back then because I was a bit younger... But then, I also read Penny Arcade and VGCats in those olden days of yore, and I still enjoy those today.

At this point, I think Tim Buckley makes an average of 1.5 good comics a month. Because they are always the bi-monthly non-story arc comics he makes that comment on something unrelated to his characters. I think that is where his best work comes from. The rest of the time, it's a hilariously unfunny attempt to be a sitcom.

We've heard plenty about his stiff, flat-coloured art-style, so I'll focus more on his writing. Frankly, the biggest problem with his strip isn't a lack of trying on his part. But he has mentioned in past newsposts that he writes his comics for people who have never heard of the comic before and are just getting into it in the middle of a particular story arc. So he writes each comic as if it is the first one being read. Which means constant and blatant beating us over the head about how Ethan is dumb and (Insert Character Here) is sarcastic. And then he drags the dialogue and punchlines out so far in a way that the joke is dead before it's even born.

That, COMBINED with the mechanical and sparsely detailed characters lacking any uniqueness amongst each other makes for a monotonous read. One that is only a small step up above most of the crap found online.

'Ey Titch. Regarding your questioning of CAD being at the rank that it is:

The reason the Tim fBuckleys comic has such a high ranking is because he heavily influenced his fanbase into keeping him in the top ten a while back, and without hesitation, they do what they can to keep him up there. I don't know why, though. All he does is screw his fans over to no end.

By no means is CAD read more than PA. PA gets about. 3.7 million more viewers than CAD on a daily basis, so if you wanted a reason as to why CAD is visited more through this site, well that's the reason. He wanted it and acted like a baby until he got his way. The rest is history.

Now on to the comic:

The art is bland. Let's just ditch this controversial "Copy Paste" dilema everyone seems to rant about. Everything as of late is stiff and robotic. The colors are decent, but for some reason, his art seems to have gotten relatively worse IMO. And Lilah is pretty dang ugly like whats his face said. Needs some improvement.

The storys are pretty shallow. Not really there for character developement but for some sitcomish scenarios. But you really don't need character developement for a good laugh. Zeek is pretty neat.

The humor is hit and miss with a ton of focus on the second of the two mentioned. He can hit them right out of the park (DS Phat comic was gold) but for the most part, it's pretty meh. The older stuff in the archives is pretty funny. But somewhere towards 05, it got into a slump and hasn't gotten out. And this Wintereenmas thing is a dead horse getting beaten with a stick. It needs some new direction.

I don't really like Tim and I don't like his comic as much as I used to. But I'll give the comic the credit it deserves.

Two years ago, when it was in it's prime, I'd have given it a four. CAD used to be great. But now... I dunno. Mabye Tim's looking at the two stars and thinking something might be amiss with his presentation. Then again, Tim's pretty self centered and could care less about what his fans have to say if it means taking in some positive criticism.

So the comic used to have a four, but it gets a two. C'mon Buckley. This is your comic. Fix it.

Wow I can't believe people have resorted to all out name calling, damn what happened to be nice? (The inability of one commenter to post links without spaces in it amused me slightly though)

On topic I like CAD, I think its funny especially the Chef Brian comics because thats the kind of humour I'm into and I'm sure I'll be insulted but what the hell I don't care.

On the topic of being better than PA: there has to be a reason CAD is the more visited on here surely? And I do agree Penny Arcade is well drawn but the humour is just not for me I guess. Also raising huge amounts if money for charities while very noble (and I did support them after being linked from elsewhere) isn't a reason to merit a webcomic on, does it add to the comic in anyway? Nope.

I don't understand why everyone keeps saying that CAD "lacks characters". How can you have a strip without characters? Alright. I'm just funnin with yall with that inquiry. Honestly though, how can anyone say that the characters on this strip lack character? These characters are oozing character. Also, somebody once stated that CAD was just ripping off Questionable Content. Really? Cause I fail to see the comparison. And, yes, I fail at a lot of things. Just thought I'd throw that out there before the haters did. Questionable Content is infact a great comic. It's one one my faves. However, it is a completely different comic from CAD. The only thing that they have in common is that they both have great characters. Even at that the characters are nothing alike, but that is why they are both great comics. Anyone with character can see that. Someone also brought up that CAD was ripping off Clerks. Again an excellent piece of work that just has nothing in common with CAD except for great characters. And as for PA? Yeah! No character. Later, characters! Read CAD!!

I started reading this comic early on. I believe Tycho linked it (or a comic that was very similar to it, but I've forgotten the name). I used to find it hilarious. Lately I find it to be the same rehashed jokes over and over. It's gotten way too predictable and unfunny. Perhaps the worst thing is all the anti-Sony comics. We get it, Sony sucks and the 360 is the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming.

As far as the art goes, as many people have already said, it's way too copy and paste. Take for example http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/co mic.php?d=20061220
Wow, they move their hands and their back straightens after the first panel. There's more drastic examples too, I just found that one first. Then there's the strip where Ethan meets Lilah's parents. Her mother looks a lot like her. Check out http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/co mic.php?d=20060603
The hair is shorter, the boobs a little smaller, and the chin a little pointier. I understand that they're related but they're mother and daughter not twin sisters. In the end, I'll give it a 3. It's certainly not a bad comic, but it's not the best, and it could be much better.

After reading the archives of both comics (god that took a while) i believe that CAD is better than PA. And anyway do you honestly expect joke not to be copied? I'm sure if you looked hard enough through the internet you would find simular jokes to what PA comes out with well before they did.

This comic rules, sure it can be a bit stupid some times with chef brain and the randomness but that is the sort of humour that is in this comic, if u don't like it don't read it and then make imature commetns in a site like this!

Mr. Jornak? You sir, are the next Goddam Hemmingway. That's a good thing, but don't take it in a good way, I'm using something I like to call "sarcasm". To all the less privilidged people Jornak is so elequently referring to, dear sweet merciful lord, do not hate a comic for sucking. Just don't do it. Jornak? You still there? You'll have to excuse me for sinking to you're level of intellgence, it'll just be a quick plunge I swear, but please allow me to elaborate as to why so many people have good taste in hating a comic that does in fact suck.

The art is horrid. Elaborate on how the first comic is better all you want, look at current work and you'll notice PA has CAD beaten in spades. CAD artwork is bland, flat, symmetrical, and boring. Lucas and Lila are especially ugly. Is she a woman or a man with breast implants? I'm surprised that his copy and paste keys on his keyboard function properly. I'd go as far as to call his copy and paste comic a sprite comic, but the harder working sprite artists might take offense.

The writing is atrocious. No typos or anything of that sort, but are there actually characters in the comic? There's Ethan and then theres:

They are all extremely weak characters with nothing to bring to the strip except bland dialogue. Story arcs are meaningless if the characters get nothing out of it.

Humor? To Tim Buckly:

We get it. People that buy computers are stupid. Get some new jokes. They were funny two years ago. You can stop now. Please stop copying Clerks.

Most of his strips are dry humor, have no punchline, are random words attacthed to the work "Fuck" at the end, or are a combination of all three. Write that down, and you may be able to achieve his success one day.

It is a horrid comic with nothing meriting it's rank in the list. It is that way because of Tim Buckley's position in the list when he started, not becuase of his first strip was better than Penny Arcade's first and its imbecilic to even suggest that. Why does Penny Arcade have at least 5 times as many readers, a convention they run every year, and a charity that Tim Buckley had to copy off of like everything else they do? I assure you it's not because they had a prettier first strip.

Also see this link for more brilliant insight:

http://www.hockeyzombie .com/daily.php?date=061212

and is the offer still up for the 500 dollars? The tone of Penny Arcade has obviously been taken from PA and added to CAD, and some might recall the Penny Arcade arc starring "L.H. Franzibald" who was an ovious parody of Tim Buckley with Tycho Saying "Should I just answer all your questions since I wrote all your fucking book?" But I know you. That's not good enough. Here's a clear-as-day example:

pa (in 1999):
http://www.penny-arcade.com /comic/1999/12/13

cad (in 2003)
http://ctrlaltdel-online.com /comic.php?d=20031215

I'd say great minds think alike, but that'd require Tim Buckley to have a great mind. You can send my 500 dollars to Child's Play, but don't tell Tim Buckley. He might copy off of you like he did Childs Play.

and let me save you a rebutal from your predictable mind:

"You're a fag, a fucktard, a dipshit, and a penny arcade fanboy."

Jornak? You may recall me saying that this was just a quick dip down to your level of intelligence? I have officially emerged, and you and your paltry insults are now officially beneath me.

I actually find it funny that the people who have elaborated on crystal clear reasons why CAD fails as a comic and the reasons that Tim Buckley fails as a cartoonist are essentially being ignored while the ones who simply hate it are just getting yelled at.

His characters are bland, robotic, unexpressive, and horribly drawn, as well as lacking in in meaning of the word "character"

The stories, like the characters are terrible.

The humor is horrible and unadventurous. You take the single most lame and easy to use joke and you now have an example of CAD humor.

"But I hope it'll get some point across that JohnnythePirate is a fag and a P.A. Fanboy"

If I had to pick any webcomic as my favorite, it would have to be "Girly" by Josh Lesnick. Nice try CAD fanboy.

"wtsstar:
Slow loading times, small comics, lack of mindblowing humor, overrated to the max, and still doesn't have all that good art. I'd definitely look elsewhere. Would give it a two or a three, but all the gushing fans that will defend it to the death force me to give it a one. =)"

Solution: Get off of dialup, and go elsewhere if you don't like it.

"Supercords:
pretty lame."

You know, talking that way about yourself surely can't be good for your self esteem.

Check out the consistancy people. I've never seen such inconsistent ratings. Most poeple get the general 4-5 if the ir comic is deemed superior. The only ones badmouthing CAD are the ones who can actually draw! Plus, you know, there's the chance that they have actual taste.

This comic is the absolute best thing that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It is hilarious. Mr. Buckley is a comidic genious. Way better than penny arcade or any other web comic. Anyone who does not find the funny in this comic has no pulse. Away with you, undead creature. And take that stick out your back side. As for the rest of us living breathing homosapians. Bask in the glory that is CAD.

Those who badmouth Ctrl+Alt+Delete are usually zealot fanboys or too 'cool' to like the more popular comics. Don't listen to them, take a look at the comic, there's a reason it's number 1. The best webcomic I have ever had the fortune to come across.

Comparing first comics is like comparing baby pictures to see who will be a more upstanding citizen later on. Tim is unadverturous when it comes to his art, while, PA, Applegeeks, Girly, Sam and Fuzzy, and many more have done nothing but push themselves to the fullest.

The Jokes are derivative. The art is hackneyed, and the writer himself is an overtly opinionated egomaniac.

Buckley spends most of his time trotting out the same one-liners that he has been sitting on for years, if we're lucky they are graciously placed in a new context in an attept to pass them off as original.

Clearly, Buckley has a great deal of difficulty taking any kind of criticism, no matter how mild, as doing so constitutes treason, and rest assured you will be forcibly ejected from his kingdom (i.e. forum) being followed by the spitting, hissing and whooping of his remaining loyal subjects. All of whom have been neutered and therefore rendered completely submissive by his numerous threats to kick all those who defy him.

The characters are basically now just a way for him to force his own beligerent (and usually poorly informed) opinion upon others. They are two-dimensional pawns, subject to his apalling whims and frankly, quite irritating and inarticulate hate-speeches. E.g "macs suck balls. I know this because I am Tim fucking Buckley. You may commence fellating me now." Here's a hint, Tim; it's just a computer. It's a a tool. It will not hurt you. It will not threaten your masculinity and it will not topple your empire if you cut it some slack. Perhaps if you have something to say about its hipper-than-hip advertising campaign, you could try, I don't know; being funny. Say something a little less troglodyte than how much you would like to stab them in the eye. It's not clever, it's not funny. You just sound like an asshole. Take a tip from penny arcade and make a joke every once in a while instead of just turning your comic into one big, farcical hate speech.

The art has not improved much from the day the strip began, but frankly that's the least of its problems.

Frankly the whole thing has been on one, immense, downward spiral in terms of quality since it's creation and it's now gaining momentum. Worse, the site is getting more publicity than ever these day, if the hits are anything to go by. It is spreading like a cancerous cyst on the reputation of every other webcomic online. It tarnishes the credibilty of other great strips because of its high position in the charts.

Looking back to 2002 when Ctrl+Alt+Delete was started by Tim Buckley, a person will remember the first comic, "Nice Melon". Although the artistic value was a bit disheveled, it had great humor value. I mean, c'mon, who can't laugh at Ethan's first show of stupidity?

Progressing on through the comic, we begin to see plot lines take shape, and some humorous gags (such as the "arrow through the chest" and the "screaming dial-up" comics). And Tim's art is beginning to take shape, as in "Makeover" when he begins to use shading and outlining.

With more practice, Tim begins to draw the anatomy of the characters better, more proportionally. And the humor begins to become more particular, suiting to many, but some are - shall we say "whiny" - and start to complain. (Refer to RDemon's and Bob's comments below - they provide no reasoning to why you should not read this comic.)

One of the most controversial characters in CAD, Chef Brian, has recieved a lot of malice. Again, Chef Brian is a particular sort of humor, and can only be enjoyed be those who find humor in

Now, in the present, the storyline has become vague, as Buckley is continuing to release more game-related comics. Personally, I like the storyline, but many others like the game-related humor.

Buckley's humor can get a little too perverted sometimes and almost become NSFW (referring to Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 comic), and a little dry, but at most times it is one of the funniest comics on the internet.

I'm giving CAD a 4.5 out of 5, but I can't give half a star, so I'm giving it a five, for its attribute of almost perfection.

P.S. Compare Penny Arcade's first comic to CAD's first comic. In my opinion, CAD has better humor, as PA's is very, very dead in their first comic.

For those who can't define overrated, if you look in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Tim Buckley and CAD.
His art hasn't improved very much since CAD emerged and it wasn't very nice looking to begin with.
The humor is not a rip off of Penny Arcade as everyone claims either. That is giving too much credit. Tim uses the easiest jokes that are sure to succeed on a very speciific audience. This doesn't mean that they are in fact funny, but rather you can understand why they should be funny... and yet, you are still left wondering why you aren't laughing. The humor is very weak and uninspiring. It simply consists of using straightforward violence, things that would happen in a videogame, or things that a gamer could interprit.
The writing outside of the humor is terrible. The characters aren't living, breathing personalities, but rather simple pawns used to enforce some biased opinionated propaganda upon the CAD readership. The characters themselves are strange foreing bodies that you would sooner force out of your insides than keep close to you. The main character Ethan starts out as a complete jerk, and an alchoholic, and somehow manages to become less and less intelligent with each comic. Lilah, his girlfriend, is just available for the girl gamer stereotype. She has no personality beyond being in love with Ethan, or making uses of the geeks and girls stereotypes, taking women back a hundred years in the proccess. Lucas. the co-star, is pretty much there as the second man. Ther person who asks the questions in order to make the main character, Ethan, look good. Scott, the Linux user, has the only excuse for being such a bad character, and that is becaue he is behind a steel inforced door throughout the comic leaving no way for him to develope as a character that you would desire to learn more about. Zeke, an Xbox built by an incompetant moron (Ethan) is the only original character, as you see him unaware of a new world and try to find love in household appliances.
At the end of the day, CAD is pretty much only a lesson on how not to make a comic, how not to write a story, and how not to be truely funny or entertaining.

While I give it 5stars, I should say it is not the best comic i have ever read. i should say that, however, it is better than most gaming comics in the fact that you don't necessarily have to play games to enjoy it. There are better webcomics, but that doesn't mean this one is bad.
Art: 6.854 out of 10
Content:8.973 out of 10
overall: 8.665

I rember when CAD was young, I think it had more going for it then. Still when Cad was young I was young, and web comics as a general rule were better. Its still good, but after all that paid content it went downhill some, and for me a Web Comic is ment to be free, thats why I thought the were started. Absath has made his comic his buisness, his life, and his job. He dosnt take critisism very well, well he actually does kinda ban it(kills the threads and such), and I think thats kinda petty. But He isnt a prick, he does a lot of charitable works, a lot of good things, I just wish he would get back to his roots. His humor has never been high brow, but I don't know I would want high brow humor in a comic. And for the record when someone says Bush is a fumbfuck, I find that kinda funny, just a little, let it roll off your tounge.....

Too all those that are rating this cesspool of a comic a rating of five stars, I have just one question.

What's it like to be 13 these days?

There are a great many responses to negative reviews of "OMFG GET A SENSE OF HUMOUR LOZ". A sense of humour? Pot, Kettle, Black much, guys? Funny is more than just the joke, it's how you pull it off. Example: The Daily Show is funny. Calling George Bush a dumbfuck is not. What I am trying to say is that video game comics are old hat enough. Lets take a look at some recent CAD comics. Nudity? "I am being held hostage by the bed linens"? Please. I write funnier stuff than that in condolance cards.

I finish this post with a challenge: I hereby super-triple chocolate sundae party hat russian roulette dare any Ctrl Alt Delete fan to post a sinlge bit of critisism on the Ctrl Alt Delete forum, CAD webcomic* discussion. See if your thread can go a day without being locked, deleted, or you get banned.

Awesome webcomic. I underdstand this comic does have some similarties to PA, but nethertheless stills its own comic. This comic had me laughing at the melon. ONe of my favorties and a excellent read. Suggested for those that like gamer comics

Few web comics have been raped this hard by critics, but that is what you can expect when you are at, or near the top. REgardless of what others can , and do say, far to often i might add, This comic is simply amazing. most of the comics are laugh out loud funny, and witty. It obvious that absath is intune with the gaming world. Enough of this, it used to rock, but now its suck bullshit, frankly, it has changed, and that is a good thing, lest it get stale. If you want a comics that WILL make you laugh, and WILL entertain you for hours, your in the right place, This is my first web comic ive ever read, and im pleased to say that it has not dissapointed me yet. It #1 for a reason, and its a damn good one

I'd actually like to half revise my statement in a similar vein to what someone else said earlier.
I love this comic. BUT the fact that it is the suckling child of Mr. T Buckley just makes me despair. The guy is arrogant, egocentric and immature, and I want no association with him.
I actually feel bad for supporting him before...

I don't enjoy the comic. Though i read it often. They have rare ocasions where, to me, they actualy have something funny, but those strips are normaly a good year between.
The art style isn't bad, but looking over the artists blog, you know that he can do better, and its a shame that he dosent seem to put as much effort into his comics.

Very entertaining to read especially while I'm bored at work. I found most of the main characters are pretty funny. The idea of Xbot was hilarious and I think it's my favorite character.

There are two characters I did not really care for. I don't like Chef Brian since I didn't find any strips with him funny. The female character Lilah is also disappointing. At first, I was thinking cool a female gamer then I said "Oh, I get it. She's just here to be the fantasy for every fanboy reading this." Surprise surprise. The fact that she falls for Ethan also confirmed this for me.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete is quite possibly my favourite web-comic.
It was the first one I started reading (Back in 2003) and one of the few comics that I anxiously await updates for.

Some say it’s a rip-off of Penny Arcade?
First I’ve heard. There are hundreds of web-comics about gamers, because it seems that the majority of web-comic readers are game fans themselves, and creating characters with a basic similarity to the audience will create a sense of empathy, and creating empathy and sympathy with the characters is the mark of a good writer. What on earth is wrong with wanting to be a good writer, eh?

Also, news for a few people, there is almost no such thing as an ‘original concept’ anymore, everything takes influences from (not ‘rips off’) other things.
I mean, look at ‘The Simpsons’.
One of the most popular television shows around, watched by millions, but is in fact thought by some to be a ‘rip-off’ of ‘The Flintstones’, which in turn is thought to be a ‘rip-off’ of a oft-unremembered sitcom called
‘The Honeymooners’…
…Hold on to your hats, it’s influence at work in a mainstream environment…

Now, I like Penny Arcade, but who’s to say that ideas for that weren’t ‘borrowed’ from somewhere else?
And if they were, why should that make a difference?
If a borrowed idea is executed well, is that not worthy of praise?

Both PA and Ctrl+Alt+Del are both good, nay, great comics, and comparisons do not need to be made.

Just enjoy them both for what they are, and stop being so damn negative all the time…

I can never understand how people say Penny Arcade is better than this, This was one of my first webcomics and Ive read through the archives more than once. It is a classic and deserves to be up at the top.

I find CAD to be one of the most entertaining comics I've ever read, aside from Chef Brian. Completely random is not funny.
Slightly random is funny, though, which is what this comic is mostly about: Ethan doing moronic, sometimes random things.
If you don't like it: F*** off.

this comic is not very funny and the fact that it's number one on this list makes me slightly suspicious as to how the list is organized. I wouldn't be too surprised if that was because it was in fact the most popular, but, that would just indicate to me that more people were amused by something that isn't funny than I thought.

At the time im posting this, CAD is number one.
That has to be some sort of mistake.

With all these negative reviews, there has to be some sort of glitche, or its based of something besides user input ratings.

ctrl alt del was good back in the day when ethan was a total jerk. Now he's a blithering idiot that could hold his own with with chef bob. The only meritable character is the xbox, and when anyone says anything relating to video games aside from ethan, its out of place.

The art is passable, the humor cosists of making fun of fans and the premium content is a total joke.

it can have a high rating, but theres no way it deserves a higher place than penny arcade and certainly not number one. nothing there merits or deserves the number one slot.

it is an interesting and entertaining comic, and updates regularly. I admit I read it. It just doesn't seem like it should be this good out of all the amazing webcomics out there and its story,plotline, and jokes are average and I swear I have seen some used before in qc. Also i have to say the guys style of art is really bland and boring. Maybe he can update less and create something that is interesting to look at.
and
besides
PENNY ARCADE IS AWESOME

this comic is funny and will continue to be funny but its is not as funny as it once was. player one and player two, chef brian, ted where did they go. screw story arcs where is the good old fasjioned comedy i long for. dont make me read penny arcade again cuz i swear to god ill do it. still good tho

This is not a good comic. You want to know why it's rated #1? It's because it USED to be good. The whole series went downhill around 2005. You sould read up until there, but afterward, it just isn't funny anymore. BTW: Weren't Ethan and Lilah gonna get married? What happened?

CAD for the lose. Big time. I dont know exactly why... perhaps the authour's douchebaggery, preferances for little girls, and banning half his forum fuels my bitterness. But in al fairness, the comic is stale. Once upon a time, it was enjoyable. Now, the writing is bland and flavourless. Anyone who says Penny Arcade is worse than CAD, in my honoured opinion, needs to mature. Ok, it's kind of pretty looking, but thats not the centre of a great webcomic.

the man has decided that you have to pay for almost everything on the website....like holy god, i dont mind when its just the movies. but when he makes special strips and freakin wallpapers for them and neglects the rest of the world except for this "premium members"...what a jacka$s....that what i have to say

I just read that Paris Hilton comic, and seriously, Paris Hilton has so much to make fun of. And ALL he does is cut off her head like CAD has done time and time again. There's nothing visually funny about her. This is stale, repetitive trash, and anyone who finds that funny needs to step up their standards a little. Decapitations got old long ago. That Paris Hilton comic is a disgrace, not to mention that most webcomics stay away from her, because they know how easy it is and how little work it takes. Standards people. Standards.

indeed, i recently sent absath an email asking him why the comic was more of a soap than a comic and he said the quote: the comic needs to evolve. well thats great but who gives a crap if its evolving if the comic sucks... in a more recent comic his punchline was "thats hot"....it was the most homosexual comic ever

Yeah, all the above BAD reviews are from people who don't understand humor/don't understand video games/are like that one woman at the shop were ethan was looking a a cocolate video game character. They need to check they're sense of humor

I used to love this comic. It was probably, back about 2 years ago, the funniest thing I had ever read. In my opinion, not even Penny Arcade could step up to it back then. But frankly, I think this has become a chore for tim more then something he loves. It just isnt that funny any more. There is the occasional gem, but thats mabye once a month. It was my first real webcomic, and it will always hold a special place in my bookmarks, but frankly, It's gone downhill.

I have to agree about the Chef Brian strips. The first one he did I thought was funny, and a few after that, but now they just seem to be random, seldom-used words thrown together in semi-coherent sentences, along with an unusual setting. Maybe it's just me, but I find surrealism works best when there is logic behind the madness so to speak, or juxtaposition of one normal thing next to a random thing, not simply utter randomness.

I've only read a few of these, as that all the time I could justify wasting on it, but I didn't find one thing I saw funny.

It's possible this is a big comic because it's one of the earlier comics, or has the most rabid fans, or people are trying to rekindle the glory days when it used to be good. (It's not uncommon for elected officials to get re-elected soley on voter habit).

Heck, some people like the same old same old reheated and served over agian. That's why Garfield is still in the papers. (I stand firmly on my belief that Jim Davis gave up trying to better his comics over twenty years ago... something chuck shultz never did in his 50+ years of cartooning.)

I will say that I've seen A LOT WORSE comics than this one, so while I don't think it's a good read, i'll say it's "fair".

Like some other fellow CAD fans here, CAD was my first ever webcomic and brought me into the world of webcomics.
Nobody beats Chef Brian, Zeke (the Xbot, lol) or Ted the penguin. MAC PANTHERS? Oh yeeeeeah.
Also I have been following CAD for quite a LOOOONG time and I can safely say that if you are going to judge the comic based on your own personal preferences (and not on anything else or I will head-knife you in CS one day) then at least read through a fair part of it, at least 20%. Other than that, if peple don't like it, then meh.

I read all of them, and it's consistantly lame and obvious. They use the same jokes over and over, the art is bland and poorly colored, everything is so stereotypical, and I've heard from a lot of people that Tim is a huge asshole.

His random comics are some of the worst random humor strips I've ever seen. The most recent one was just a bunch of words mixed together.

So let me understand this. The comic's jokes are suppossed to be bad, tired, and dry and that makes it funny? Sure. After you're done licking CAD's boots maybe you should check out something like Girly which is actually stupid AND funny.

I sort of understand that I won't get a lot of the jokes because I'm not familiar with the entire archive, but... I'm just not inspired to read the entire archive, from what I've read. I'm with the "I'm only saying anything because I don't understand why this game is #1" party.

This is easily my favorite webcomic, with Order of the Stick as a close runner-up. CAD is ridiculous, dry humor with an astounding gamer feel behind it. Tim's personal life is his own, and people who would hold someone's personal life against their art, even if the art is good, needs a boot in their ass. For you imbeciles who bitch because the jokes have been done before, or that this is a PA ripoff, than lets swallow this bit-o-knowledge: PA is just a representative of the same world! Would you not be friends with a totally cool person just because you have a friend that you already like who happens to act the same? If you answer is no, congrats, your human. For those of you who said yes, than you obviously live in a dank basement alone with no friends anyways, so no worries there. This comic is SUPPOSED to be dry, tasteless humor, thats the FUN of it! Pay attention you small-minded anal ticks, it's an OPEN FACT that he knows the jokes have been done before, that doesn't stop them from being funny. I mean, since when does a dead baby joke get old? Have you ever heard a blonde joke you didn't like? I THOUGHT NOT! There are millions of gamers in this world, you think that only PA is going to want to bring the stereotypical antics of our cliche' to the web? You all need to pull the broomsticks out of your critisizing asses and stop badmouthing something so blatently. (This does not apply to all of you who didn't like it, you have the right to your oppinion, this is aimed at the flaming asses who need a labotomy.) This is my two-cents. Thank you.

I honestly don't know why I keep reading this comic. I guess I'll just list my strikes against it:

1. A comic should NOT begin with the characters sitting around talking about how they are in a comic. I have a strong dislike for this sort of thing because it sort of invalidates everything that happens for the rest of the strip's life - it would be like a television show blatantly establishing that all of the people on screen are just actors. It's very difficult for me to invest in something if I can't temporarily bridge the fantasy/reality rift when I watch/read something.

2. His attempts at being "random-lolomg" fall flat. He wants to make various characters seem crazy, but he doesn't put any effort into making their dialogue seem crazy - he just strings random words together and hopes they work. A better way to have "crazy-talk" would be to spend a little bit of time researching mental illness and utilize that knowledge. Since he does cartooning full-time, he should at least put some effort into his writing.

3. I don't have any complaints with the art itself, but I would expect a bit more experimentation when it came to the "crazy" strips. Even though the dialogue sucks, the right art could bring it up to a chuckle-worthy level. Again, since Tim draws comics for a living, he should be spending a little extra time on making them exceptional.

In summary - CAD is bland and I expect more from full-time cartoonists.

incase mr man checks this again i just have to ask, how can you say this is a rip off of QC? its not about indie scene, its about gaming, its more along the line of penny-arcade and all the gaming comics, everything looks like something else but content wise i have never seen a single fucking QC referance. this 5 should even out your poorly based 1.

I used to really like Ctrl Alt Del, and I still read it now. I don't care about Tim Buckley's personal life, I've never read Penny Arcade so I don't care about those similarity arguments. I don't think it's highly original, but neither do I think something has to be original to be enjoyable.

I just feel that it has gone downhill a lot since I started reading it. Back then I would have given it a 4 because there were so many strips that made me laugh out loud, now though, most jokes just fall flat for me. This isn't because I'm stupid and don't get them, it's just because I don't find them funny. If it's your thing then fine.

I'm not going to rate it, because there's no point, I'm just going to say I don't enjoy it as much as I used to.

The dial-up jokes and the xbox robot are the only thing that holds this comic together. Everything else about it is lame, especially the art, which might be colored, but is incredibly bland. Some humor gives you a laugh every now and then, but its hardly a hilarious comic.

I think it looks pretty terrible. It's like all the characters are extremely stereotypical, you've got the mentally retarded hero, computer nerd who deals with computer illiterate idiots, girl who likes games and beats up people for staring at her, and robot just because "OMG THIS COMIC MUST BE SILLY AND MAKE NO SENSE!"

Plus Tim Buckley is kind of a dick. After I went to Connecticon and posted a thread on the SA forums laughing at some of the cosplayers, he emailed me saying that if he saw me at Connecticon 2006, he was going to get the other webcomic artists and throw me out on the street.

Edit: For clarification, I never said anything to him. I was supposed to play a HoldEm game with him and a few other guys, but it got cancelled. Later I got an email from him saying he thought I was an immature asshole and should be killed.

Alright, I’ve never been a big fan of Ctrl Alt Del, but I decided to go back and read the entire archives… and… well I still think it’s stunningly mediocre. Yet the popularity of this comic made me go back and read a few more, just to want to see where the intrigue is since even with crappy webcomics I can usually see where the attraction is (like people feeling pity for the creator of Megatokyo and eliciting kind of protection instinct, kind of like protecting the artwork of a mentally handicapped younger brother, in fact I think it’s exactly like that), but not with Ctrl Alt Del, nor could I pinpoint why I didn’t care for it. I’ve noticed a lot of people complaining about something intangibly missing from the comic (I mean the charge of being derivative is pretty lacking since a majority of webcomics are, most notably pvponline which was one of the more prominent comics to level the charge).

Then I figured it out. Some of the strips are very funny, like this one http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/co mic.php?d=20051228 were truly hilarious. Cracked me up. A majority of the strips were too wrapped up in continuity to be funny and then there were the rest of the strips that felt lacking. Strips like this one: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/co mic.php?d=20051223 There are so many strips like this one, strips that have a great premise, but lack the witty last panel to really elevate the serious. In the case of this comic the first two set up panels are great, but the last one, the one you expect the big pay off, is completely lacking. That’s when it hit me; Ctrl Alt Del is probably the worst of the major comics utilizing the last frame. 3 stars.

This is the webcomic that got me into webcomics. Nice bunch of characters, nice art style and humorous situations.

Actually, I was tempted to give this 4 stars, for the fact that the "decay" (lower quality after a long time the comic runs) seems worse than other webcomics, for example PvP, which to me remains just great.

there are lot of haters who comments on this one. I don't know for those people that don't get the jokes of Tim but all I can say is that their intelligence is beyond stupidity. the jokes is so simple that it can be understood by 8yr olds, yet there are still people that exist.
PA is great yeah(since 1998), I dunno from those guys but if you can laugh at PA, I think your mind can also get the jokes of this comic. If this is a rip-off, then somehow this is also funny to those guys.

I don't care if some people just hate the comics because the artist is not honest or is a true shit, what matters is that he is able to make me(or a lot of us) smile everyday because of his antics and art. Same goes for PA, VGcats, Chuggy, BD(better days) and a lot of artists out there that have a pathetic life but still going out there and doing his stuff for his fans. All I can say is they are the l33t

This is a comic that requires (like so many others) some familiarity with its archive, just dropping in and complaining that you didn't 'get' the strip of May 23 '05 as Adwanoc did ("Where is the punch line?") just proves you have the attention span of a fruit fly. That particular strip was part of a storyline that ran for 9 months, if you expect a out-of-context punchline funny at every update you'd be better off reading Peanuts as CAD is obviously beyond your intellect. A nine-month storyline pretty much answers those that think CAD is a PA copy too, its a rare day when PA runs a two-day story. While PA & CAD cover much the same ground in gamer comic land, that is about the end of their connection so please develop an intellect before spouting such nonsense.
For those that take nasty stabs at Tim's personality .... get a life! This is a comic forum, not a personal hate forum. Any passing familiarity with Tim's work will show that he is a highly articulate young man whose artistry and storytelling have grown along with his comic. As his forum doesn't suffer fools glagly I can only presume some of the more spiteful comments are from ex forum members that were ejected for their bigotry or moronic-ness.

CAD is the comic that got me into the webcomic world and it will remain my favourite for some time to come. CAD simply puts all others in the shade.

When even the author of the comic comes out and says he is aiming for mediocre writing on the basis of ensuring continual updates, it&#8217;s a bad sign. There are some earlier CAD comics I like, but most are pretty lame. There are hundreds of comics out there with much better writing than CAD, and Tim has obviously come to the conclusion that no matter how bad the comic is, it will still remain popular simply because it's popular (as proven by Tim&#8217;s stupidly child like antics in the past). CAD is like the Highlanders of webcomics; it started off good, but jumped the shark a long time ago.

This is my favourite Comic.
The behavior off the characters are just my kinda' humor. The artwork rules pretty hard too.Änd let's not forget the best side of CAD; Beef Wheel Potatoman, CHEF BRIAN... I just love that random person.

I have always loved this one... honestly, what Mr. Buckley does in his personal life is of no consequence to me. I enjoy his comic and the effort he puts into it. I think it is clever, inventive, and funny as hell.

I would give CAD a 4, maybe a 3, but a comic is more than just a strip. It's the artist, the author, the people who create the strip. It's the message therein. PVP is a fine comic itself, but I can truly enjoy it because Scott Kurtz is a man who takes himself, his beliefs, and his work seriously without going melodramatic. His Jack T. Chick response exemplifies this perfectly, in my opinion (http://www.pvponline.com/rants_jes us.php3).

CAD is funny, taking from Penny Arcade, sure.... but PA's been around for a long time, isn't the most original concept in the world, and I'm willing to overlook that because PA borrows and takes from other realms (particularly in terms of art style).

Tim Buckley is a pathetic child for all his antics and what annoys me the most is that it DOESN'T spill into his comics! He does an INCREDIBLE job covering things up, but the evidence needed to see that his judgement is cruel at worst and pathetic and not thought out at best /is/ there. The fact that he doesn't have the guts to even address these issues shows a complete disrespect for the issues and, by large extension, his fans. CAD would be a good, enjoyable read, if Tim Buckley wasn't involved and I didn't know I was boosting his pathetic ego by giving his site hits.

I used to enjoy this comic a lot, but since I've learned the truth about the author, it hangs like a dark cloud over the work itself. I can't even enjoy the comic at the times it's funny, as the knowledge of the author's antics (deleting a sub-forum and banning 200 members for the comments of a single member, breaking up his World of Warcraft group in a fit of rage, and generally spitting all over his fans and telling them it's good because it's his spit) makes the comic unenjoyable. I wish Tim Buckley would shape up his immature attitude.

The comic is mediocre, but still occasionally enjoyable. If it were a fantastic comic and Buckley were still a jerk, it wouldn't hurt the comic as much. But because the comic just isn't that great, it does. It's one of those comics that you read because it's there, but you wouldn't miss it if it wasn't.

I've been reading webcomics for about 4 years now. I started off reading Mall Monkeys back in high school. Then they were gone and I found Ctrl+Alt+Del. I must say it more than adequately filled the void in my life.

To this day it remains my favorite comic ever and inspired me to do my own with a friend of mine.

As far as all this "Penny Arcade rip-off" talk, Tim Buckley has said time and time again that he had never read Penny Arcade before he started Ctrl+Alt+Del. The couch (which has sparked so very much controversy in this debate) actually came from Little Gamers, not Penny Arcade.

You see what I did there? I used facts, instead of blind hatred and name calling, to prove a point. Any of you are more than welcome to try it anytime you like.

Anyway, Ctrl+Alt+Del rocks my face right off, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Peace out.

I'm a little bit of a gaming guy, but not obsessed like most the comments here. CAD ammuses most the time because my friends ARE obsessed with video games. 90% of them could almost be a perfect ethan... 4 for me

People compare this to Penny Arcade? I mean...I'm kind of surprised. The game theme is the same, but Ctrl+alt+del has a more continual feel to it.

To be honest, I don't think that it's that much better than all of the other gamer comics out there. The writing is fairly predictable, and the characters are nothing special. Ultimately I appraise Ctrl+alt+del as good, but forgettable.

Okay, so this might be a comic about two gamers. Big deal. But one of the thing that sets this apart from PA, is it's continuing storyline, something that PA doesn't do much. I don't give a shit if Tim ripped off Tycho and Gabe. What matters is that the result is a good comic.

I love this comic!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard of it through MegaTokyo and Apple Geeks, took me only a day to read through 3 years of comics since I could not pull myself away from the comp...... Non-stop laughter from beginning to the latest comic, and I am so glad that he updates often..... The only thing is Chef Brian.. I must have something that broke because I do nto get him at all, but hey I deal!!!! CAD is a fantastic read, a good reason to get up in the morning^_^ lol

It's ok. I don't find the humor as clever as some other comics out there, and the art isn't the best (but it is decent for a free comic)... very hit and miss in the writting. If someone's looking for a good gamer comic, Penny Arcade is essentially the same concept but much better executed.

Best. Comic. Ever.
this comic is totaly genius on so many levels, the story, the characters, the art, the creator is a ledgend (tim buckley). and anybody who says it's a swipe of "penny-arcade", is a complete moron, actuly READ it, THEN make your opinion.

This comic was the first one I read. I used to enjoy it very much. Recently i found it getting boring. As far as the backlog goes There are few better. But the more recently Its gone from one-shot humor to a pretty half baked sitcom.

If anything this comic is an example of how a large die-hard fanbase earned through bygone days will let you plough through "Teh Shayt" and keep on going. Howewer, based on the overall archive (Which I reckon is good in general), I'd give it a 4

Often middle of the road. It is inside humour but still can be weak in that category too. It does have good moments is never terrible, but very far from the best...very.
It is a bad sign that I wanted to stop reading after awhile.
Just my opinion though...and I didn't read them all (as hinted at before).

Unoriginal. And worse yet, not funny. Even if you understand video games, its not funny. Let me cite an example:

The first 2 frames consist of a guy and a girl siting playing video games. In the 3rd, the girl suggests skydiving as a new activity. The last, the guy says "No I dont want to die before the x box 360 comes out."

Where is the punch line? Why is it funny? Because a grown man is afraid of skydiving? <sarcasm>Wow, how clever </sarcasm> Or is it the fact that they made a reference to the X box 360. Ok. Fine. This manvalues the xbox over his own life. What is so intrinsically funny about an X box? I could never imagine myself laughing out loud at this kind of trash. If you do laugh out loud at this, I want you to shoot yourself infront of a preschool class.

What the hell are you people talking about? Saying thet it's a ripoff of penny-arcade? you're fucking morons. Just because penny-arcade owns every other comic in popularity, and that is owed to it being about videogames, doesn't mean penny-arcade is the only comic allowed to be about videogames. For the love of god, penny-arcade wasn't even the first.

Sorry. I'm seeing a lot of "How dare you compare this to Penny Arcade?" comments here, and, well...gee...As early as CAD's first strip they were admitting that their concept was hackneyed. Two guys, on a couch, playing videogames, making wisecracks at each other. Toss in the too-hot girlfriends, the random surreal violence, and the in-gags about the industry, and it's a virtual fucking clone. For chrissakes, they even make cracks about the Xbox controllers being unwieldy, and rip-off PA's convetion of overlapping dialogue balloons to indicate interruptions. I can't believe a comic that's this much a shameless rip-off is #1. Weak, weak, weak.

The art is a little lacking from what I've seen, and the humour seems a bit stale. Just not my style really. MacHall is a much better gamer comic in my opinion. But props for having a webcomic for so long.

It is quite easy for the average nitwit (reading the comic for no less than a few strips) to dismiss this as a Penny Arcade ripoff. While both share the same theme (an overused theme I will admit), I find that this comic has certainly taken this idea and have gone in it's own direction....done it's own thing, if you will. After reading most of the strips, I find that this comic has a lot of substance and a lot of heart, making this comic a lot easier to jump into (it doesn't depend "soooo" heavily on inside industry jokes).

I also enjoy the artwork and it's very inviting. As far as any derrogatory comments from PA fans against this comic, remember...one half of the creators of PA has said this was a comic he personally enjoyed. Think about it.

I don't get it... it isn't funny (and the jokes it has have already been done... which makes me wonder why do they bother using someone else's BAD jokes? if you are going to steal, steal the good ones!), the art is bad, the concept is lame, so are the characters... oh yeah, I forgot this is what it takes to be liked by all those lifeless geeks out there, sorry.

Slow loading times, small comics, lack of mindblowing humor, overrated to the max, and still doesn't have all that good art. I'd definitely look elsewhere. Would give it a two or a three, but all the gushing fans that will defend it to the death force me to give it a one. =)

Great art and the cliché characters are well excecuted. PA has the monopoly, but that doesn't mean others can't use 'em too. And there's more than enough arcs to keep the niches from being abused like Garfield. Lastly: Happy Winter-een-mas!

Instead of bringing your personal little PA biases around here, just ignore the comic. Nothing is truly original, because a parallel can be drawn between almost anything these days. CAD is just an amusing, enjoyable webcomic. If it was as bad as some people think it is, the author wouldn't be making a living off of it.

TheRoozi

From the synopsis.......
"Illusions of granger"......nice one, dumbass!

Good comic though, mucho laugho.

EightSlicesOfPie

Anyone saying CAD is a ripoff of PA needs to just shutup. Other than it's a gaming comic, there's almost NOTHING else in common. HO NOES! LITTLE GAMERS IS A GAMING COMIC! PA RIPOFF! PA RIPOFF! Just shutup.

It's a total, direct ripoff of Penny-Arcade, except not as funny. Adding in 4th-wall breaking and trite violence makes it worse, not better. Mild humor does not excuse above problems. I don't get why this came in 2nd in the awards and WIGU didn't even show up.
No problems with the art style, though.

CAD is possibly the best gamer comic ever drawn, it was the first one i ever read and i simply love it.
None of my friends like it though, its probably because they suck at english. (Dont worry im from Denmark not Afghanistan).

This comic is okay, but it's going downhill. It was obvious that it had jumped the shark once Ethan put a monkey in his pants. The line between Chef Brian and the normal comics is slowly shrinking, leading to mediocre jokes more often than not. But it's not a terrible comic and the occasional good one comes out, so give it a read if you're ian easily entertained and obsessive gamer.

Ryudos

I've only been reading them for about a year, but it still remains my personal favorite. CAD is both unique and a work of pure genius. Tim pwns!